21-day plan

ESAT Preparation: How to Prepare for the ESAT in 3 Weeks

There are three weeks until the October ESAT.

If you have been preparing for months, you should now be moving away from learning content and towards timed papers, mocks and fixing whatever still goes wrong.

If you haven't, this is not the point at which we tell you that you really should have started in June. That would be both true and spectacularly unhelpful.

Three weeks is still enough time to improve quite a lot.

The important thing is the order.

  1. Calibration
  2. Past papers
  3. Full mocks
  4. Targeted practice
  5. Review

Almost everything on this page can be done for free.

Start with the free calibrationOpen free past papers

First: work out what is actually wrong

Before doing another 200 questions, spend 20 minutes finding out what you are bad at.

This sounds obvious. Students remain remarkably committed to avoiding it.

Lost marks come from different causes. Treating them all as “need more practice” wastes the three weeks you have.

  • You know the method but run out of time

    Calculation speed or question selection

  • You finish comfortably but lose marks

    Accuracy and reading

  • The same topic keeps going wrong

    Content gap

  • You spend several minutes stuck

    Question selection

  • Your score varies wildly

    Inconsistent pacing or method

Our free Mathematics 1 calibration contains 15 questions and estimates your current ESAT level.

Mean calibration score
8/15
Median estimated ESAT score
5.0
Median projected module raw score
13.2/27

Calibration score distribution

Calibration score distribution (percent of attempts)7%0–324%4–641%7–921%10–127%13–15
Share of attempts by raw score out of 15. Built from anonymised first calibrations.
Take the free calibration

Week 1: finish the useful past papers

If you have already worked through most of the NSAA and ENGAA material: good. You can move quickly to the next section.

If you haven't, start here.

Official material should still form the foundation of your preparation.

There is, however, a mildly annoying problem.

ENGAA and NSAA repeat a lot of questions.

Doing both blindly can make you feel extremely productive while occasionally doing the same question twice.

  • NSAA Section 1, 2016–2023

    Do it. Strong Maths 1 and science practice.

  • ENGAA Section 1 Part A

    Skip duplicated Maths/Physics questions if you already completed the corresponding NSAA paper.

  • ENGAA Section 1 Part B, 2020–2023

    Do it if you take Maths 2.

  • ENGAA Part B, 2016–2019

    Use the unique questions only if you already completed the overlapping NSAA material.

  • NSAA Section 2, 2020–2023

    Useful harder science practice. Ignore material clearly outside the present specification.

  • ENGAA Section 2

    Avoid repeated questions if the equivalent NSAA set has already been completed.

  • TMUA Paper 1

    Useful additional Maths 2 practice after the closer ESAT material is exhausted.

A short duplicate warning

  • ENGAA Section 1 Part A

    Same Maths/Physics questions as that year's NSAA. Skip if you already completed the NSAA copy.

  • ENGAA Section 1 Part B, 2020–2023

    Unique to ENGAA after NSAA Part E disappeared. Do it for Maths 2.

  • ENGAA Part B, 2016–2019

    Mostly overlaps NSAA Part E. Use the unique questions only once the shared set is done.

  • ENGAA Section 2, 2020–2023

    Same Physics set as NSAA Section 2 Part X. Complete one copy, not both.

  • ENGAA Section 2, 2016–2019

    Unique harder Physics. Optional once closer ESAT-shaped material is finished.

See the full past-paper roadmap and duplicate table →

Don't waste the paper afterwards

We have put the papers into a free simulator so you can practise them on screen rather than treating a PDF like a worksheet.

Once you finish, put the raw mark into the free score converter.

The score is useful. The mistakes are more useful.

Free Past-Paper Simulator

Do NSAA, ENGAA and other relevant papers under timed conditions.

Free Score Converter

Turn your raw paper score into a more useful ESAT benchmark.

Then move on to proper ESAT mocks

Past papers eventually have a problem: none of them are actually the current ESAT.

NSAA and ENGAA remain very useful because the style and underlying skills are close. Their structures are not identical, though, and some older material no longer matches the specification.

Once you have used the highest-value legacy material, start doing full ESAT-format mocks.

We currently have 5 full ESAT mocks available free for each module.

Try the free ESAT mocks

Do them properly.

No calculator.

40 minutes.

No pausing because somebody has messaged you.

Write down which questions took too long, which ones you guessed, and which mistakes you could have prevented.

The 90-second problem

The ESAT gives you roughly 89 seconds per question.

This does not mean every question deserves 89 seconds.

Median first-attempt question time
84.6 seconds
Accuracy peak
58.7%

for questions answered within about 45–90 seconds

Answers made very quickly or after very long attempts both sit around the mid-40% accuracy range.

Accuracy by time spent

Accuracy by time spent on a question44%<45 sec58.7%45–90 sec49%90–120 sec45%>120 sec
First-attempt accuracy in the question bank, grouped by time spent. Association only, not a causal claim.

This does not make 73 seconds some magical optimum.

It suggests a much duller rule:

Don't rush questions you can solve, and don't marry questions you cannot.

If you have spent roughly 90 seconds making no meaningful progress, moving on becomes increasingly attractive.

You can come back.

What students are actually getting wrong

We looked at anonymised first attempts across the ESAT Camp question bank.

Overall first-attempt accuracy: 47.6%

Weaker high-volume topics

  • Waves31.5%
  • Units32.5%
  • Thermal physics35.0%
  • Sequences and series41.2%
  • Probability42.6%
  • Mechanics43.3%
  • Trigonometry45.7%
  • Electricity46.4%
First-attempt accuracy in the ESAT Camp question bank. Lowest among higher-volume curriculum areas shown.

These are students using ESAT Camp, rather than a random sample of every ESAT candidate. Treat the figures as useful practice data, not a prediction of the real exam.

A few traps appear repeatedly

  • Transformers involving power and cable resistance
  • Stopping distance when velocity changes
  • Histogram interpolation
  • Moving plane mirrors
  • Litres ↔ cubic metres / rate questions

The exact questions are not particularly important.

The mistakes are.

Students scale braking distance linearly when it depends on speed squared. They miss a litre conversion. They use the wrong relative velocity. They understand most of the physics and still lose the mark.

These are excellent things to discover three weeks before the exam rather than three minutes after it.

Week 2: stop practising everything equally

Once you have enough evidence, your revision should become unfair.

Give more time to the things costing you marks.

If your fractions are slow, do fractions.

If every mechanics question takes two minutes, do mechanics.

If your only errors are misreads, doing another mechanics chapter probably will not save you.

Mental maths

Use for fractions, powers, rearranging expressions, arithmetic speed and estimation.

Open mental maths

Question bank

Use for weak subjects, weak syllabus topics, fresh ESAT-style questions and timed sets.

Open the question bank

Review

Use your previous mistakes rather than constantly finding new questions.

ESAT Camp has tools for both mental maths and topic practice, but textbooks, school material and official questions can do the same job.

The resource matters less than whether you are fixing the correct problem.

Yes, we suggest making Anki cards

This is one piece of advice that has nothing particularly sophisticated behind it.

When you make a mistake that you could plausibly make again, save it.

Not the entire question.

Save the lesson.

Bad card

Solve this entire transformer question again.

Better cards

  • For an ideal transformer, how are voltage, current and turns ratio related?
  • If speed increases by a factor k, how does braking distance change?
  • 1 m³ equals how many litres?

Your deck should slowly become a collection of your own recurring stupidity.

This is useful.

Five or ten minutes a day is enough. The point is to stop paying twice for the same mistake.

Week 3: simulate the test

By the final week, preparation should look increasingly like the real thing.

A student taking three modules is doing roughly two hours of testing without a calculator.

Concentration therefore becomes part of the test.

  • Complete modules under exact time
  • Occasionally do the full sequence of modules
  • Use consistent rough-working habits
  • Practise moving on when stuck
  • Return to flagged questions
  • Review repeated errors afterwards

Do not spend the final week collecting increasingly obscure content because somebody on Reddit announced that they have revised the coefficient of restitution in seven dimensions.

The specification is finite.

Use it.

The 21-day timeline

Days 21–18

Diagnose

  • Calibration
  • Identify weaknesses
  • Begin strongest past-paper material

Days 17–14

Past papers

  • Continue NSAA/ENGAA
  • Avoid duplicates
  • Review every mistake

Days 13–10

Mocks

  • Begin full ESAT-format mocks
  • Start mistake/Anki deck

Days 9–7

Repair

  • Weakest topics
  • Mental maths
  • Short timed sets

Days 6–4

Simulate

  • More complete mocks
  • Practise full sitting where possible

Days 3–2

Consolidate

  • Recurring mistakes
  • Anki
  • Lighter targeted practice

Day 1

Stop being clever

  • Light review only
  • Check test logistics
  • Sleep

Test day

Attempt everything

  • No negative marking
  • Move on when stuck
  • Come back where possible

If you haven't done the past papers yet

You are behind the ideal schedule.

You are not doomed.

Do not respond by attempting every NSAA, ENGAA and TMUA paper ever printed over the next six days.

Use the roadmap.

Start with the material closest to the ESAT. Skip known duplicates. Review what goes wrong.

Doing fewer papers properly is considerably better than speed-running a decade of admissions tests and reviewing none of them.

See which past papers to prioritise

If you have finished everything

Good.

Now the problem changes.

Past papers tell you less once you remember the answers.

Use unseen mocks. Increase the amount you do under strict timing. Find fresh questions in your weakest areas. Practise full sittings rather than isolated questions.

Keep reviewing mistakes.

The glamorous answer to ESAT preparation would involve some clever secret technique.

Unfortunately, quite a lot of it is noticing that you keep making the same mistake and then arranging not to make it again.

Try an unseen mock

Everything you need to start

You do not need to pay for a preparation course to prepare properly for the ESAT.

Use whatever combination of resources works for you.

The important bit is to start doing the right work now.

Take the free calibrationSee the 3-week roadmap
About the data on this page

The performance statistics on this page come from anonymised ESAT Camp activity and use first attempts where appropriate.

They describe students using our platform rather than a random sample of all ESAT candidates, so they should be treated as useful preparation data rather than a prediction of live ESAT performance.

Small topic groups are noisier than the overall figures.

Start with what is actually wrong

You do not need to pay for a preparation course to prepare properly for the ESAT. Use whatever combination of resources works for you. The important bit is to start doing the right work now.

Take the free calibrationSee the 3-week roadmap

Related guides

Which ESAT past papers to use

NSAA, ENGAA and TMUA roadmap, overlaps and tier list.

ESAT mock tests

Timed ESAT-style practice with official NSAA and ENGAA past papers.

Free ESAT diagnostic test

A short Maths 1 calibration that shows whether speed or accuracy is the issue.

ESAT Score Converter

Turn a past-paper raw mark into an estimated scaled score.

Mental Maths Practice

Timed no-calculator drills you can run in ten-minute sessions.

ESAT Question Bank

Topic practice across Maths, Physics, Chemistry and Biology.

ESAT past papers

Official ENGAA, NSAA and TMUA papers for ESAT practice.

ESAT test dates

October 2026 and January 2027 sittings, deadlines and results dates.

Sources

ESATCAMP is an independent preparation resource and is not affiliated with or endorsed by UAT-UK, Pearson VUE or any university.